With Blu-ray still far from mainstream as a standard in optical storage, Lite-On is excited to have announced three new 5.25" DVD writers this week, all with a record breaking 24X maximum write speed.

The iHAS324 is a SATA based drive without LightScribe labeling capabilities, while the iHAP424 (PATA interface) and iHAS624 (SATA interface) both have LightScribe. Additionally, the iHAS624 also has a new patented feature called LabelTag which gives the ability to create a label ring on the data side of standard recordable media.

All three drives also feature SmartErase technology, making sure that any sensitive data will be permanently inaccessible by any means once initiated.

Lite-On hasn't disclosed pricing on these new drives yet, but the iHAS324 is said to become available in mid-March, followed by the iHAP424 PATA based drive in late March then a bit later on (sometime in May) the iHAS624 will start hitting shelves.